Press Releases

At “time of national crisis,” immediate adoption of bold financial protection and relief measures is needed in stimulus package WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) joined with 26 national civil rights, consumer, housing and labor groups, and 35 state groups in sending a letter to Congress with specific financial services policy proposals that help address the needs of families most at risk from the impending economic collapse. Full text of the letter is included at bottom. The letter states that the “ organizations write with urgency to recommend that the

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) applauded the introduction of an emergency student loan payment and debt cancellation plan introduced by U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). The plan would provide needed relief to federal student loan borrowers through immediate cancellation of monthly student loan payments for the duration of the national emergency caused by the spread of the COVID-19, and a pay down of a minimum $10,000 for all federal student loan borrowers. In July 2019, CRL

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today in a board meeting, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced that it has approved industrial loan company (ILC) applications for Square Financial Services, Inc. and federal student loan servicer Nelnet Bank. The agency also recently announced a notice of proposed rulemaking on ILCs. By approving these ILC applications, the FDIC has broadened the ability of commercial companies to engage in banking activities, including online lending. ILCs provide a way into the banking system for commercial companies, which are otherwise not permitted to own

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Bank Policy Institute, Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), NAACP, The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, and Independent Community Bankers of America sent a letter to Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) Chairwoman Jelena McWilliams urging the agency not to approve deposit insurance applications submitted by industrial banks or industrial loan companies (ILC) until its ILC rulemaking is final. The letter was sent ahead of FDIC’s meeting on Tuesday, March 17, where agency leaders are expected to announce a notice of proposed rulemaking regarding

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) released Treat Fannie and Freddie as Utilities, a report finding that the best model for regulating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs) outside of conservatorship is utility rate-of-return regulation. Under this type of regulation, the GSEs would pool risk nationally and offer broad access to affordable mortgage credit nationwide. The report recommends that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), the independent agency regulating Fannie and Freddie since the 2008 financial crisis

If approved by the President, the Obama-Era 2016 Borrower Defense rule would stay in effect and provide relief for students defrauded by for-profit colleges WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, through a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution, the U.S. Senate voted to invalidate U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ 2019 harmful Borrower Defense (BD) Rule, scheduled to go into effect this summer. If the President signs the CRA resolution, it would void DeVos’ BD rule and leave in effect the 2016 Obama Administration BD rule, which would continue its purpose of providing relief for students

WASHINGTON, DC - On Friday, February 21, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) released a Supplemental Notice of Propose Rulemaking (Supplemental NPRM), that would provide a path for debt collectors to pursue time-barred debt. The rule supplements a proposed debt collection rule that the CFPB released in May 2019. As proposed, debt collectors could collect debt that is beyond statutes of limitations – as long as consumers receive certain disclosures at the time of initial contact and for any required validation notice. The consumer disclosure would apply only if the debt collector

Widespread alarm at high-cost non-bank lenders funneling loans through banks to charge interest rates higher than state laws allow for non-bank lenders Concern over this deceptive practice was high across the political spectrum with concern expressed by 71% of Democrats, 64% of Republicans, and 63% of independents. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Voters across the country and political spectrum are concerned that some high-cost non-bank lenders arrange loans through banks at rates higher than state laws allow, according to a new poll commissioned by the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) and conducted by

National Consumer Law Center and Center for Responsible Lending Experts to Testify in Rent-a-Bank Hearing before U.S. House Today at 10am ET Washington, D.C. – Eleven national consumer and civil-rights groups submitted a comment letter late yesterday to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) strongly opposing the federal banking regulator’s proposal, which risks green lighting triple-digit rent-a-bank schemes. -High-cost lenders use these schemes to funnel their loans through rogue banks to try to avoid state limits on predatory loans. The Center for Responsible Lending, National

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) Director of Federal Campaigns Graciela Aponte-Diaz testified before the full House Financial Services Committee for a hearing entitled: Rent-A-Bank Schemes and New Debt Traps: Assessing Efforts to Evade State Consumer Protections and Interest Rate Caps. CRL and other consumer and civil rights organizations have underscored their concerns about rent-a-bank schemes to the Office of the Comptroller and Currency (OCC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)—warning the agencies that this loan laundering scheme enables